11 months ago, the Buccaneers acquired Darrelle Revis in a trade with the Jets in which Tampa gave up the 13th pick in the 2013 draft and potentially a fourth- or third-rounder in 2014. After one season of Revis being misused by Greg Schiano and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan in zone coverage, the new regime in Tampa is already prepared to cut Revis loose, mostly to jettison his $16 million salary and prevent the second draft pick owed to the Jets from being upgraded from a fourth to a third-round pick.

When the Schiano Men ruled in Tampa, the Bucs were a willing pipeline of talent to Schiano’s hero, Bill Belichick. That won’t be the case if the Revis deal goes down, as it will be the call of Lovie Smith, who so far as we know has managed not to fall victim to Grumblelord’s Dr. Mindbender powers. It will, however, allow the Patriots to replace their best cornerback, who they happened to get at a discount price from Tampa, with an even better one, who they also would have gotten at a discount rate from Tampa. Right now, the Patriots’ cap situation makes acquiring Revis at his present salary a somewhat risky proposition, though who knows, New England will probably find a way to hoodwink the Buccaneers into covering a portion of his 2014 salary just so they can make it work. BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY WILL!

Yes, it’s certainly possible that the Patriots could still land Revis if the Buccaneers release him outright on Wednesday, as the team is expected to do if a trade partner can’t be found, and at a lower price tag. Though I remain confident that if Revis does hit the open market another spendthrift team such as the Raiders or Redskins will find a way to outbid them. IT’S THE ONLY HOPE WE HAVE!

I wouldn’t worry – even if the Pats are able to convert a chunk of his salary to bonus, I doubt they’d tie up that much money in a CB with injury history. I’d much rather see that cap space go to a CB with participates-in-drive-by-shootings-with-his-mother history

Either way they’ll do nothing about the pass rush and will be perfectly setup for a divisional or conference round playoff loss. Hooray for being a quasi-decent team in the AFC East!

Don’t matter if the Patriots sign Revis or not. They still play in the dumpsterfire that is the AFC East. They’ll go 11-5/12-4, get a 2nd seed and then lose to a gritty/but-not-as-gritty-as-2004-Pats Steelers team.

The one thing I will say about the Talib deal is that Talib had a pretty crappy 2011 before being traded to THE GREATEST WHITEST MOST TOLERANT SCRAPMASTAHS EVAH!!! But regardless, if THE GREATRIOTS get Revis on the cheap I might riot… or pout.